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Mercedes-Benz S-Class (model year 2000 or later)
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is an expensive luxury automobile designed and built by DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart, Germany.
Models are designated by the size of their engine, such as the S 430 or S 600. S-Class vehicles marketed in the United States are named similarly, but without the space: the S430 and S600, for example.
History
Since the model range's unofficial inception in the late 1950s with the so-called "fintail" models, it has been the de facto standard of what a top-of-the-range luxury automobile should be.
The model came of age in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with the help of high-performance, limited-production V8 sedans like the 300SEL 6.3 and its successor, the 450SEL 6.9, the latter boasting the largest engine ever installed in a postwar Mercedes-Benz including the optional V12 in today's S-class.
The S-Class was redesigned for the 1992 model year, and again for the 2000 model year.
The company's philosophy of "engineering first, cost second" has pushed the boundaries of performance and technology to new heights, culminating in today's V8-powered S 430 and S 500, V12-powered S 600 and high-performance S 55 AMG and S 65 AMG. The S 65 AMG, the most powerful "S" to date, is produced in limited quantity. The S-Class sedans range in price from just over US$76,000 to over US$200,000, and have a long list of available features.
The S 63 AMG was built in very limited quantity in November 2001. It was sold only in Europe and Asia, and was available exclusively through AMG.
As the Mercedes-Benz flagship, the S-Class is surpassed in size only by the ultra-expensive luxury sedans wearing the resurrected Maybach nameplate, themselves based on the S-Class. The CL-Class is the only class (not including Maybach vehicles) more expensive than the S-Class.
In the 2004 model year, the S-Class' powertrains comprise the following petrol-burning engines:
- An overhead camshaft-V8, generating 400 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm
- An overhead camshaft-V8, generating 460 Nm of torque at 2,700 rpm
- A supercharged overhead camshaft-V8, generating 700 Nm of torque at 2,750 rpm
- A turbocharged overhead camshaft-V12, generating 800 Nm of torque at 1,800 rpm
(Consumer Guide, 2003)
In addition to either a manual or automatic transmission, and a rear-wheel or all-wheel drive system (dubbed 4MATIC ). A new seven-speed automatic transmission was introduced in the 2004 model year (Consumer Guide, 2003).
All S-Classes are currently built in Sindelfingen, Germany. The very first 1992 Mercedes S-Class rolled off the assembly line on August 6, 1991. The last 1999 S-Class rolled off the assembly line on July 9, 1998. The very first 2000 S-Class rolled off the assembly line on September 16, 1998. The aforementioned 6.9 had its own assembly line in Stuttgart.
From 1999, the V12-equipped cars feature a cylinder deactivation system called Active Cylinder Control.
United States S-Class Models
(Data for year 2005 models)
- S430 Sedan
- USD$76,020 MSRP
- Engine: 4.3 L 24-valve V8 engine making 275 hp (205 kW) at 5750 rpm
- S500 Sedan
- USD$84,620 MSRP
- Engine: 5.0 L 24-valve V8 engine making 302 hp (225 kW) at 5600 rpm
- S55 AMG
- USD$112,620 MSRP
- Engine: AMG-built intercooled supercharged SOHC 5.5 L 24-valve V8 engine making 493 hp (368 kW) at 6100 rpm
- S600 Sedan
- USD$125,470 MSRP
- Engine: 5.5 L twin-turbocharged 36-valve V12 engine making 493 hp (368 kW) at 5000&nbps;rpm
- S65 AMG
- USD$169,720
- Engine: AMG-built twin turbocharged SOHC 6.0 L (5980 cc) 36-valve V12 engine making 612 hp (456 kW) @ 5100 rpm and 738 ft.lbf (1001 Nm) of torque.
United Kingdom S-Class Models
(Data for year 2005 models)
- S63 AMG was only produced in 2001.
| Model | Price | Max power | Max torque | 0–100 km/h (62 mph) | Max speed | Fuel consumption
|
| | | | | | (mph) | (km/h) | (mpg US combined average)
|
| Wheelbase | Short | Long | | | Long | Short | | |
|
| S 280 | £46,820 | | 197 hp (147 kW) | 270 Nm (199 ft.lbf) | 9.7 | | 144 | 232 | 25.5
|
| S 350 | £52,410 | £55,160 | 245 hp (183 kW) | 350 Nm (258 ft.lbf) | 8.2 | 8.2 | 153 | 246 | 25.5
|
| S 500 | £63,010 | £65,730 | 306 hp (228 kW) | 460 Nm (339 ft.lbf) | 6.3 | 6.3 | 155 | 249 | 24.8
|
| S 600 | | £92,010 | 500 hp (373 kW) | 800 Nm (590 ft.lbf) | | 4.8 | 155 | 249 | 19.1
|
| S 320 CDI | £50,245 | £52,995 | 204 hp (152 kW) | 470 Nm (347 ft.lbf) | 7.9 | 7.9 | 141 | 227 | 36.7
|
| S 55 AMG | £87,510 | £90,260 | 500 hp (373 kW) | 530 Nm (391 ft.lbf) | 4.8 | 4.8 | 155 | 249 | 21.4
|
| S 63 AMG | | ~£110,000 | 444 hp (331 kW) | 620 Nm (457 ft.lbf) | | 5.7 | 155 | 249 | 19.1
|
Safety
Road accident statistics on a model-by-model basis from the UK Department of Transport show that the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is one of the safest cars on the UK roads (measured in terms of chance of death in an accident)—between three times safer than the safest Volvo and BMW 7-Series models and only matched by the Jaguar XJ series and Land Rover.
Awards
The S-class was Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1981 and again in 1999.
Competitors include:
External Links
References
